Farm has high hopes for its cheese

By Karen VoylesStaff writer

Monday

Jun 7, 2010 at 12:59 AM

Locavores, those who try to eat only locally produced foods, will soon have another option. John and Nancy Mims are almost ready to begin marketing the cheeses they make on the same farm where their cows are milked.

HAWTHORNE — Locavores, those who try to eat only locally produced foods, will soon have another option. John and Nancy Mims are almost ready to begin marketing the cheeses they make on the same farm where their cows are milked. Later this month, the Hawthorne couple plans to begin selling their product at local farmers' markets. Their cheeses have tentatively been named Heart of Palm, Magnolia and Loblolly, which were made in the Havarti, Gouda and Tomme styles, respectively."For years we have been looking for ways to get into value-added items from our dairy," John Mims said. What got the couple interested in cheese making was encouragement from another dairyman who had dabbled in it over the years and helped the couple find experts to get them set up. According to Scott Wallin of Florida Dairy Farmers, Cypress Point Creamery at Rex-Run Farm is the fourth dairy in the state to manufacture cheese at the farm where the milk used in the cheese is also produced. The others are Wainwright and Sons in Live Oak, Dakin Dairy Farms Inc. in Myakka City and Winter Park Farm in Winter Park. "We see this as another example of dairy farmer innovation," Wallin said. "There is a strong ‘buy local' movement and producers such as John (Mims) are satisfying a consumer need in a very unique way."The Mimses already were milking 155 cows — mostly Jerseys, with a few Brown Swiss thrown in — twice a day at their Rex-Run Farm west of Hawthorne. The farm, formerly known as Jost Dairy, has been in Nancy Mims' family since her dairying parents moved to Florida from Wisconsin about 50 years ago. What made the decision to try cheese making even more appealing were some new friends. Patty Sinclair grew up in Honduras as a fourth-generation cheese maker. She met her husband, Murray Sinclair, while they were both students in the dairy program at the University of Florida. Murray grew up on a dairy farm in South Africa and now works for Select Sires, a reproductive and herd management corporation. The Mims met the Sinclairs twice — once through Murray's work with the Mimses' herd, and again through John Mims' brother, who was pastoring a church the Sinclairs attended with their four children. "We were meant to be friends," Nancy Mims said.While John Mims focuses on herd management, Nancy Mims and Murray Sinclair focus on the hands-on aspects of cheese making. "It takes us about six hours to make a batch — sometimes longer — because this is something you can't rush," Murray Sinclair said. "We probably make cheese twice a week right now.""Even though we have recipes, there are a lot of variables, and we have to make adjustments," Nancy Mims said. "There are some types we don't plan to make because they require pasteurized milk, like feta."The process begins with fresh milk from the farm's bulk milk tank being pumped into a 200-gallon vat in the creamery. The women raise the temperature in the vat to 90 degrees while a motorized paddle keeps the milk moving. Then they add rennet, a liquid that helps form cheese from milk. After being mixed together, the milk is left to process for a determined amount of time, depending on the cheese being made. Once John Mims and Murray Sinclair agree that the curd has set properly, they attach multi-blade knives to the motorized vat mixer and cut the curd into the desired size. "We really work together on these and try to come to an agreement about what we should do and when," Nancy Mims said. After the curds have been cut, the women walk away from the vat again to let the cheese continue setting up. Vat temperatures and length of processing time depend on the cheese recipe being used. All recipes call for the whey to be drained from the curds and for the curds to be packed into plastic molds. A hydraulic mold press helps ensure uniform cheese density, John Mims said. After being held overnight in a brining vat to get salt into the molded cheese, the cheeses are allowed to cure on racks for at least 60 days in a room cooled to 55 degrees with 90 percent humidity before they can be sold. Inspectors from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services make unannounced visits at least once a month to ensure food safety practices are being followed, John Mims said. "What I like best about this so far is that we sample all our cheese," he said. He said his goal is to be able to sell cheese at the Union Street Farmers' Market in downtown Gainesville by June 16 and at the Alachua County Farmers' Market off U.S. 441 by June 19. Contact Karen Voyles at 359-5656 or voylesk@gvillesun.com.

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